Refrigerator ventilator



J- C. PROCTER REFRIGERATOR VENTILATOR N ENTOP., JA M E 5 C. PROCTER :BY

TTO IZNEY Jan. 11, 1955 Filed July 29, 1953 United States Patent REFRIGERATOR VENTILATOR James C. Procter, Cumberland, Ind.

Application July 29, 1953, Serial No. 371,138

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-89) This invention relates to a device for preventing undue frost formation over the walls and around door openings in a refrigerator of the walk in type such as is used as hardening rooms, wherein the temperature is kept well down below zero, for example such as around F. below.

In many of these types of refrigerators, considerable difficulty has been occasioned in keeping the insulation dry, and in preventing excessive frost from accumulating on the walls of the room, and particularly in preventing frost from accumulating around the door to such an extent that the door is exceedingly difficult to open.

These types of refrigerators are subject to air infiltration, in that there is a travel of air from the outside to the inside of the refrigerator, meaning that the moist air from outside infiltrates through the insulation to tend to equalize the internal pressure with the outside, due to the fact, that in cooling the air within the refrigerator room, this cooled air assumes less volume thereby tending to produce an inflow from the outside.

Moisture laden, warm air, upon moving through the insulation condenses, particularly so as it nears the inner surface, and thus decreases the insulating value, as well as setting up a deteriorating effect, particularly where organic material, such as cork, is used. Also, frost forms on the interior of the walls of the refrigerator.

Air also leaks or infiltrates in around door edges, and the frost forming tends to freeze fast the door or other shiftable closure.

The important object of my invention is to provide means through which the internal pressure of the refrigerator will be equalized without travel of the warm, moisture carrying external air through the surrounding insulation and through minute crevices around refrigerator doors and the like. In other words, it is an object of my invention to provide an air travel passageway open at all times from the atmosphere to within the refrigerator as the means for pressure equalization.

Further, this pressure equalizing means provides for condensing and freezing out of the incoming air the major moisture content thereof, and also provides for removing the frost from this means to maintain an open passageway.

In short, I provide a controlled air intake for the refrigerator wherein moisture of the air is frozen out of the air in the zone of that intake to maintain the insulation in dry state, and to avoid frost and ice accumulation around doors.

The invention comprises briefly an open tubular element entering from the outside of the room from the atmosphere and extending into the room a distance wherein, under normal closed room conditions, air tending to enter the room is free to enter through this tube. The tube is always open throughout its length, extends within the room far enough to cool the air in the tube, condense out, and freeze the moisture within the length of the tube. This tube may be located in any zone about the refrigerator wherein the best results are found to be obtained. In the description and drawing herein, the tube is shown to be located near the room ceiling, but this location may vary without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Opening the door of the room, particularly a hinged door, tends to pull air through the tube into the room, and closing the door tends to force air from the room out through the tube. The invention further includes a structure which will prevent this tube from clogging up 2,699,044 Patented Jan. 11, 1955 with frost in view of the fact that the atmospheric air generally is carrying considerable moisture, and when th1s moisture strikes the interior of the cold end of the tube, frost will tend to form.

One particular form of the invention as now best known to me is described in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view in vertical section through the upper end, corner portion of a refrigerator room to which the invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation in detail on an enlarged scale of the structure embodying the invention; an

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal central section through the structure.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is illustrated in fragmentary form and in section a portion of the upper ceiling 10 and a downwardly turned portion of the front wall 11 in which there appears a door 12. Through the wall 11, preferably near the door 12, there is inserted a tube 13 to extend well within the room itself. This tube 13 may of course vary in size depending upon the size of the room, and for example, it may have a diameter from three to four inches, and extend into the room from three to five feet.

When the door 12 is opened, there is tended to be created Within the room, a vacuum which will cause an inrush of air from the outside through the tube 13 to discharge interiorly of the room. Conversely, when the door 12 is closed, the air within the room will tend to be pressurized, and there will be a flow outwardly from the room through the tube 13 to discharge into the atmosphere. In some instances, the provision of the tube 13 to afford communication from the outside with the inside of the room, this means being located near the ceiling of the room, is sufficient to take care of the excess moisture condition within the refrigerator. However, when that moisture becomes excessive, then it is advisable to proceed further and provide for means to remove frost from the interior surface of the tube 13.

I employ a scraper device of some sort which will ride over the interior surface of the tube 13 so as to scrape frost off of that surface entirely around the circumferential face thereof. In the present form, I employ a coiled wire member 14, in the nature of a coiled spring, to have the turns 15 spaced apart a distance somewhat less than the distance the member 14 will be carried in scraping off the frost. This spacing of the turns is had in order to provide an overlapping travel of one turn over an area previously traveled or traversed by an adjacent turn.

Some means has to be employed to set up this travel of the member 14 to and fro within the tube 13 at periodic intervals, and I accomplish this reciprocating travel by a suitable connection made with the door 12 so that the opening and closing of that door 12 will induce the desired travel of the member 14.

There is provided at the outer end of the tube 13 a bracket generally designated by the numeral 16, herein shown as being bifurcated with an interconnecting web 17 tying together the two arms 18 and 19. These two arms 18 and 19 extend over the outer end of the tube 13 to substantially the center thereof, and pivotally carry therebetween at their outer ends a rocker member 20.

This rocker member 20 is formed to have two side plates 21 and 22 interconnected by a web 23. This rocker member 20 is substantially semicircular in length, and carries a roller 24 at one end and a roller 25 at the other end revolubly between the plates 21 and 22. The member 20 is rockably supported between the arms 18 and 19 past the center of the member 20, to have the pivot pin 26 located nearer the roller 25 than it is to the roller 24. The outer end of the member 14 is interconnected through a leg 27 to the rocker member 20 at any some such point, herein shown as about an end of the pin 28 which serves as the axle for the roller 25.

From the web 23 there is extended a tongue 29 between the plates 21 and 22 to have an end of a spring 30 hooked therethrough, Fig. 3. The other end of the spring 30 is engaged in the tongue 31 which extends from the web 17 of the bracket 16. This tongue 31 extends between the ice plates 21 and 22 at a location between the pivot pin 26 and the roller 25, Fig. 3, being closer to the roller 25 than it is to the pin 26. Also, the locations of the interengagement of the ends of the spring 30 with the tongues 29 and 31 are such that when the rocker member 20 is rocked from the solid line position, Fig. 3, it will be flipped to a dash line position as indicated by reason of the axis of the spring 30 passing to the other side of the pin 26 axis, and reversely when the rocker member is in the dash line position, and pressure is exerted on the roller 25 in a direction toward the end of the tube 13, the spring will flip to the other side of the axis of the pin 26 to cause the rocker member to assume the full line position.

In reference to the pin 26, there is another pin 33 interengaging the plate 22 with the arm 19 of the bracket 16, this pin 33 being axially aligned with the pin 26 so that the spring may travel freely through the rocker member 20 without interference.

In order to set up the reciprocation of this rocker member 20, the door 12 has a member 34 fixed thereto and extending upwardly into the path of the roller 24 as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. In these positions, the door 12 is closed. When the door is open, the member 34 will travel to and through the dash line position 34a, and in so doing, the roller 24 will be pushed outwardly from the end of the tube 13, until the spring 30 will flip the rocker to the dash line position to have the roller 24 entirely out of the way of the member 34. In so doing the roller 25 follows in and around behind the member 34 to stop at that position as indicated by the dash line to which the numeral 25a is applied. In traveling from the solid line position to the dash line position, this roller 25 will travel that distance which will have pulled the member 14 outwardly along the tube 13 to the positions of turns as indicated by the dash line. Then when the door member 34 comes back again and strikes the roller in the position 250, the roller 24 will follow around in behind the member 34 and be snapped thereagainst by the spring 30 so that the member 1.4 is returned to its initial and normal solid line position with a considerable snap action. In this way, frost which may have accumulated around the inside of the tube 13 will be scraped off, and the current of air induced by the closing of the door will shift that frost so that it will no longer adhere to the tube 13, and eventually will be carried out of it. As indicated in Fig. 3, the member 14 terminates immediately adjacent the inner end of the tube 13 so that the member 14 is substantially coextensive with the length of the tube 13.

Again where the frost accumulation may be excessive, the tube 13 may be heated such as by a lamp, placed within the tube 13 (not shown), the heating effect required being quite small in any event, and in most instances may be dispensed with entirely.

The device is extremely effective in reducing the moisture content of the refrigerated room, and the door 12 may at all times be freely opened and closed without the heretofore difficulty of the door freezing shut. The interconnection between the door 12 and the roller 24 will vary depending upon the position of the door in reference to the location of the tube 13, but in any event there will be some arm or interconnection interposed between the door and the roller 24 to set up the switching of the roller 24 from one position to the other to induce the travel of the member 14.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A pressure-equalizer for a refrigerated space having an entry door, comprising in combination with said door, a tube entering the space from a non-refrigerated space, through which tube a fiow of air is induced by variations of pressure between said spaces; an inner tube wall frost scraper; and means actuated by travel of said door shifting the scraper along said wall.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said scraper has spaced apart wall contacting members; and in which said scraper actuating means embodies a snap action in kicking the scraper from position to position in said tube.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said scraper comprises a coiled wire member; and said scraper actuating means comprises an eccentrically mounted rocker having a fixed pivot axis, spring means yieldingly retaining the rocker in one of two positions by reason of the axis of said spring means being rocked to either side of said pivot axis; a door carried member in the path of ends of said rocker; and said wire member having an end connected to said rocker for travel with the rocker.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,900,576 Moore Mar. 7, 1933 1,900,580 Moore Mar. 7, 1933 2,187,470 Collins Jan. 16, 1940 2,259,986 Atchison Oct. 21, 1941 

